The Dawn Before the Battle
by ZhugeLiangT
Summary: Sun Quan and Liu Bei makes plans to align their kingdoms against the ever growing Wei. Gan Ning does not approve the alliance but must accept it to keep his place in Wu.  Will he be able to stay focused on the task at hand or will his feelings betray him.
1. Chapter 1

**Author Notes: This is not historically correct and will contain noncanon pairings and possibly character deaths in the story.**

**The Dawn Before the Battle  
**

"Heh! Why do we even need to bother with having Shu as an ally? We could take out Wei by ourselves! Just get me a few boats and I'll take each of 'em out, one by one!" Gan Ning slams his knife into the table in frustration. Su Fei sits down across the table from Gan Ning and sighs.

"Gan Ning, it is for our advantage that we align ourselves with Shu to get a better jump on Wei. They are the stronger of our two enemies and with Shu on our side we do not need to worry about their interfering on our plans to destroy Wei." Gan Ning stands up and grabs his knife back from the table.

"Fine! I don't like it though! Just tell those do-gooders to stay out of my way when we are on the battlefield together! If that bearded, red face freak Guan Yu or that fat, drunk Zhang Fei step out of line…" Gan Ning turns and launches the knife right past Su Fei's face and into the wall. "…I won't hold back!"

"Please Gan Ning… don't do anything that will ruin the future of Wu." Gan Ning glares at Su Fei and walks to the door. He grabs his bells and puts them on before lifting his sword onto his shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah… I'll try to be nice to them… I can't guarantee anything though!" Gan Ning walks out leaving Su Fei to sit there shaking his head wishing that Gan would some day just behave.

* * *

"Brother, this alliance seems like a ploy, I do not know if we should go along with it." Guan Yu strokes his beard while a handmaid pours them wine. Zhang Fei drinks his in one gulp and tells her to refill it.

"Ah Guan! You're just over analyzing the situation! They send us wine! We get rid of Wei! What more can we ask for?" Guan Yu sighs and drinks his wine.

"Brother Zhang, Sun Quan has Zhou Yu… he is a crafty strategist who would do anything to take over all of China. I do not know what they are planning, but I do not trust Wu and their plans." Zhang Fei laughs loudly.

"Guan you are worried for no reason! Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang will get together, make some strategies and then we'll go over and pound Wei into the ground! What could possibly go wrong? This is a perfect opportunity for both kingdoms to get rid of Cao Cao once and for all. He has only been getting stronger! Once we take him out, we'll just turn on Wu before they get a chance to do it to us!" Liu Bei stands up. Both Zhang and Guan look over to him.

"Brothers… I don't know whether or not this is a trap or if Sun Quan is just honestly trying to help us eliminate the threat of Wei. One way or another Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong and Sun Qian all agree that this alliance is worth the risks. Together Shu and Wu will join and take out Wei! Brothers! The three of us have made an oath to live and die together, trust in me and together we will eliminate Wei with Wu." Guan Yu stands up and Zhang Fei stands too. Both men lift their weapons in the air with a satisfied grin on their face. Liu Bei pulls out his sword and touches the tip of his sword with their weapons.

* * *

Sun Quan sits in the throne room with his hand holding his forehead. Zhou Yu, Zhuge Jun and Lu Xun are all standing in front of the throne watching their lord waiting for him to speak. After a few minutes of awkward silence Quan slowly rose his head to see the three of them standing there. The three strategists bow.

"Zhou Yu… Lu Xun… Zhuge Jun… You could have told me you were here. No matter, we need to figure out a way to solidify the alliance between our kingdom and the kingdom of Shu. There is no doubt that not all of Shu will be perfectly fine with allying themselves with us. In fact I am sure there are some that are down right against the alliance. Zhuge Liang for one may be telling Liu Bei not to go forth with this plan. We will have to come up with a plan that will benefit Shu, bring our two kingdoms together, but not give an advantage against us after the battle against Wei and us. Zhou Yu, as the top strategist of Wu, what do you have in mind?" Zhou Yu bows deeply for the compliment.

"My Lord, the best way to form the alliance is with a marriage, more specifically a marriage to Liu Bei himself. If we offer a wife to Liu Bei, he will be part of Wu and the alliance will be set." Sun Quan nods a few times.

"And if he refuses to marry? We also need to find someone to send to Shu." Zhou Yu pulls out a scroll.

"My lord, I have someone in mind already… the best person for the job… would be your sister, Sun Shang Xiang. Liu Bei couldn't refuse an offer like this. It will be a perfect for both of us." Sun Quan stands up in shock.

"You are kidding me right? You expect me to send my sister to Shu? That is crazy how am I supposed to be okay with that? There must be another way." Zhou Yu shakes his head.

"I am sorry my lord, but this is the only way we can guarantee that the alliance will succeed. We must give Sun Shang Xiang to Shu, with her there we will be able to take out Wei and then turn against Shu after they are weak from the battle." Sun Quan slowly nods. In the door way Gan Ning over hears the conversation. Gan Ning's face goes from a ghostly white for a red hot rage. Gan kicks over a wine barrel outside the doors and walks away.


	2. Chapter 2

In her room Sun Shang Xiang sat on a mat sharpening her arrows. A handmaid walks over to her and starts brushing her hair. Xiang pushes the handmaid's hand aside and continues to sharpen her arrows. After a few minutes the handmaid begins brushing her hair again. This time Shang picks up an arrow and points at the handmaid.

"Leave me alone, I don't care about my hair being all pretty, can't you see I'm busy?" She sighs and continues working on her arrows. The handmaid shrugs, stands up and walks out of the room. Shang shakes her head and finishes the last arrow. She smiles at the work she did and puts the arrows in her quiver and places on a hook on the wall. As Shang turns to walk out her brother Sun Quan was standing in the door way. Shang was taken aback for a second and raised her eyebrows,

"Sun Quan, you surprised me, what are you doing here?" Sun Quan motions for her to follow him. He sits down in the living room and tells the handmaid to bring over wine. Shang Xiang carefully sits down across from her brother, curious on why her brother decided to come visit today. The handmaid pours Quan a cup of wine and he hands it to his sister. The handmaid pours a second cup of wine and Quan holds it up. Shang Xiang slowly raises her cup before drinking it. Quan placed his cup down and sighs.

"Shang Xiang… there is a war coming. Wei has become a huge threat and we need to stop him. To be able to conquer Wei and unify China under the kingdom of Wu we must join forces with those of Shu. Liu Bei has some formidable allies under his kingdom that can do us a lot of good against Wei. Zhuge Liang's intelligence with the strength of his sworn brothers would make us unbeatable." Shang Xiang raises her eyebrows and scratches her head in confusion.

"Does this mean you need my help!" Shang Xiang jumps up and grabs her arrow from the side table. She runs into her bedroom and grabs her quiver and runs back out. Quan is still sitting there with a displeased look on his face. Shang Xiang's big smile slowly fades to a concerned look. She places her bow and quiver down and sits again. "Or… not? Why exactly are you telling me this if it isn't to tell me that I can join the battle…?"

"We need something that will ensure that Shu will accept our alliance. We need you… to marry Liu Bei." Shang Xiang quickly stands up in shock. "This is the best way to make Liu Bei agree. Zhou Yu, Lu Xun and Zhuge Jun all agree that to make Liu Bei join us would be to ask him to marry you, we all agree that he will agree and our alliance will go through."

"Wait… why do I have to? There are so many other women that you could send off the Shu! Why should I have to do this? You don't respect me at all! I'm tough enough to be a warrior of Wu but all you think of me is a woman and nothing more. I'm not just a woman, I'm a Sun! I want to fight Wei for our father, I want him to be proud of me for defeating Wei and fighting under his flag. I am not marrying Liu Bei." Sun Quan tries to get a word in but Shang Xiang slams her bow on the table and storms out of the house.

"Ah father… there must be something to get her to change her mind. Send me a sign… something that will show us that our fight will not be in vain." Right as Quan finishes saying that he hears a commotion outside.

"My lord! My lord! I have important news!" A messenger is running towards Shang Xiang's house as Quan walks out. The messenger stops in front of him and pants. He bows to his lord and catches his breath. "Lord Quan, Zhuge Liang of Shu has arrived!"

"Ah! Thank you father! Bring Zhuge Liang to the guest quarters by the throne room and have him wait there for a half hour as I get things ready for an official meeting between Wu and Shu." The messenger bows and runs off to tell Zhuge Liang. Sun Quan smiles and nods to himself. "Father, with this meeting I am sure we will be able to bring Shu and Wu together and be able to defeat Wei once and for all. Bring us luck for this."


End file.
